Reminiscence {Book Two of the Vengeance Trilogy}

Chapter Twenty Five: A Long Way Down

Mel and I sat in the silence of the old living room. It was still a shock to me that we were in the same farmhouse that I had lived in as a child. Even though other people had lived here after us, I could still see everything as it once was. The family photographs lining the walls, the savory aroma of my mother's shepherds pie swirling through the air, my father's boisterous laugh bouncing off the walls as I ran to him when he came home.

It was strange that all of that could be recalled like it was yesterday, but when I looked at the people who had saved us in the park, I came up blank. When I tried to ask Melanie questions, she wouldn't even look at me. Even if I were asking about what the hell I saw I would get nothing. I still couldn't believe what I had seen; the girl with incredible healing abilities, someone being burned alive, but being reduced to ash in seconds, watching Peter control the world around him as if he had superpowers. All of it was terrifying, but I had no answers.

And then there was Elliot.

The minute my eyes met with his, it was like seeing swift glimpses of the past. Too fast for me to understand anything that had happened, but just enough for me to know that if I were going to get answers from anyone, it would be him. I hated the feeling like I needed Elliot. Every time I thought about just running away from all of this or trying to figure it out on my own, I realized that it would be impossible to get the answers I was looking for without him. It was almost like I wanted so badly to hate him for all of this, but there was something holding me back.

There were a few certainties I was granted after the events that transpired tonight; I was surrounded by beings that were not human, despite how human they seemed upon first glance, they had powers that I could never imagine someone possessing, and that every single choice I made from here on out put my life on the line. Even though there was a little voice in my head telling me that I could trust the company I was in, I refused to let my guard down. If I wanted to make it out of this madness alive, every single move I made had to be carefully calculated.

"Damn it, Elliot, Danny is the reason why any of this happened! He betrayed us!" a loud voice shouted from the kitchen, causing both Mel and I to jump in our seats. The strangers that had brought us here had been relatively quiet up until now. It was clear that they were trying to decide what to do with Danny and Peter, though I didn't know why it was a discussion to be had. They had locked Peter up in the basement and even though Danny didn't have to be down there too, he refused to leave Peter's side.

At the park, I remembered when the guy known as Tom grabbed me by my hair and threw me to the ground as if I were nothing. When I finally woke back up, Mel and another girl I didn't know were kneeling over me. If it weren't for her glowing eyes and street clothes, I would have assumed she was a paramedic. I could hear Mel talking to me, telling me that I was going to be okay, I was more concerned with everything else going on around us. Only meters away from me, Elliot was forcing Tom's body into the glowing embers of the fire.

The rage in his expression was something that was puzzling to me. It wasn't like he was just killing because of the isolated incident in the park. There was something much deeper in the actions that he was taking. I could see his lips moving, but Tom's screams drowned out the sound of Elliot's voice. There was a part of me that was deathly curious to know what he had said, but at the same time, I already needed so many answers.

The last thing I remembered was yelling at two of the members of Elliot's group to let go of Danny and Peter. When I tried to get up to stop them myself, Bridget told me to stay down and that they would be okay, but I knew that I couldn't trust her. I couldn't trust anyone now. My life was unraveling before my eyes. I kept screaming and begging them to let them go because although I didn't know what was happening, Danny and Peter were at least kind to me. Elliot wouldn't even tell me how I knew him, but the two of them showed me kindness and despite all of this shit that happened, they still tried their best to protect me. It wasn't until I called out to Elliot to make them stop that they were finally let go of.